SIMBAD references

The correlation between black hole mass M_BH and stellar velocity dispersion σ in nearby elliptical galaxies affords us a novel way to determine M_BH in active galaxies. We report on measurements of σ from optical spectra of seven BL Lacertae host galaxies. The derived values of σ are in the range of 160-290 km.s^–1 corresponding to M_BH of 5x10⁷-1x10⁹ M_☉. The average ratio of M_BH to the host galaxy mass is 1.4x10^–3, consistent with that estimated in other active and inactive galaxies. The velocity dispersions and the derived values of M_BH of the BL Lac objects are similar to those obtained for low-redshift radio galaxies, in good agreement with the predictions of the unified models for radio-loud active galaxies.